The Hangzhou 2022 Organising Committee (HAGOC) conceded nailing down dates for competition had become "one of the major concerns of all walks of life" since securing the rights to stage the Asian Games six years ago.

The Games, scheduled to run from September 10 to 25, will feature 40 sports, encompassing 61 disciplines.

It is estimated that 482 gold medals will be handed out during the 15 competition days.

Action is due to start four days before the Opening Ceremony with the men’s football tournament kicking off on September 6.

The first gold medals are set to be awarded in several sports including in swimming, modern pentathlon, rowing and artistic gymnastics on September 11.

Archery and artistic swimming competitions are expected to be held on the last day of competition on September 25 when the Closing Ceremony is also set to take place.

Athletics tops the ranking of single sports with the most gold medals with 48, followed by swimming with 41 and archery with 33.

Gold medals are set to be handed out on every competition day in athletics, swimming, cycling, triathlon, artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, breakdancing, judo, ju-jitsu, kurash, wushu, weightlifting, karate, fencing, taekwondo, and dragon boat.

The release of the preliminary schedule comes after the Olympic Council of Asia and HAGOC staged the third Coordination Committee meeting last September.

Organisers claim the first edition is based on the "estimated number of applicants" and say they intend to publish a final version prior to next year’s Games.

"The competition schedule is a systematic project that requires dynamic adjustment," a statement from HAGOC said.

"HAGOC’s next step is to adjust and update the general schedule, unit schedule, event schedule and other contents according to the actual number of applicants confirmed by the Olympic committee delegations of different countries and regions, the broadcasting rules of Asian Games, and the adjustment of event setting schemes."

Later this year, Hangzhou 2022 is expected to organise test events for athletics, basketball, sailing, open water swimming, road cycling, shooting, rugby, table tennis, judo and taekwondo.

Hangzhou will be the third Chinese city to host the Asian Games, following Beijing in 1990 and Guangzhou in 2010.